How Shies lives. One of the most scandalous construction projects in Russia

Activists have been on duty at Shies, a small railway station in the Arkhangelsk region, for nine months. These people are not stopped by the need to live in tents in the heat and cold, and their supporters throughout the region have repeatedly come out to rallies of many thousands. It’s all about the landfill that Moscow authorities decided to build here for rubbish from Moscow renovation. Local officials see this as a serious investment in the regional budget, the developer as an opportunity to earn and create new jobs, and residents as a threat to the unique northern nature. The Russian BBC service went to Shies to see activists in the middle of the taiga and to find out what the workers of one of the most scandalous construction projects in the country think about the protests.